Anchorman director Adam McKay isn't excited about Zack Snyder's The Fountainhead movie. Snyder has been on a lot of minds lately thanks to the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, his definitive version of the 2017 movie. Many praised the Snyder Cut and its more complete arcs for characters like Cyborg and The Flash. That movie is only the start of a busy 2021 for Snyder, though. His zombie heist film Army of the Dead releases on May 21. That project has already spawned a full-fledged franchise thanks to a prequel movie titled Army of Thieves and a spinoff anime series.
At one time, Snyder was also working on a movie adaptation of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. The 1943 novel follows Howard Roark, an architect set on fighting convention in favor of new ideas. The story received one film version in 1949, but subsequent attempts to adapt it have been unsuccessful. Snyder expressed interest in a The Fountainhead movie in 2016, but the project hasn't gained much traction since then.
In a March 2021 interview with The New York Times, Snyder was asked about his version of The Fountainhead, with the director revealing it's "on the backburner." Snyder said in part, "We need a less divided country and a little more liberal government to make that movie, so people don’t react to it in a certain way." In a more recent interview with The New York Times, McKay reacted to a mention of Snyder adapting The Fountainhead, expressing his lack of enthusiasm at the idea:
Ugh. You can put that in the interview: “McKay makes a look like he just ate rancid bacon."
Following his initial response, McKay explained he's more interested in seeing a movie about Rand's "crazy" life, calling her work "clunky and didactic." He also allowed a movie adaptation of The Fountainhead could absolutely be successful, saying "There’s 75 million people out there who would line up to watch it." All told, it sounds like McKay is generally opposed to an adaptation of The Fountainhead vs. one crafted by Snyder specifically.
While it would be interesting to see the director's take on the novel, McKay makes a fair point about Rand's work, which is fairly polarizing in the literary community. The Fountainhead in particular is a tough book to adapt, as evidenced by the many unsuccessful attempts over the years. Snyder himself is clearly aware of this, recognizing a movie would only be enjoyable to watch in a certain political climate.
It remains to be seen if Snyder's version of The Fountainhead will ever come to fruition. It seems like it's several years out, even if it does end up happening. Snyder also has a plethora of other projects in the works that will take priority. However, it seems possible Snyder's The Fountainhead could do well, provided it releases at the right time.
Source: The New York Times 1, 2